


It’s Not So Cold (If I’m With You)

by NamelesslyNightlock



Series: Going Down Swinging [27]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Astral Projection, Attempted Kissing, Avenger Loki (Marvel), Boredom, Claustrophobia, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feels, First Kiss, Fluffy Ending, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Kissing, Loki (Marvel) Feels, Loki (Marvel) to the rescue, M/M, Mutual Pining, Panic Attacks, Pining, Reunions, Robots, Romantic Fluff, Snowed In, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-12-09 03:16:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20987924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NamelesslyNightlock/pseuds/NamelesslyNightlock
Summary: It was supposed to have been a relaxing weekend. Getting snowed in by an avalanche wasnotpart of the plan.





	It’s Not So Cold (If I’m With You)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [STARSdidathing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/STARSdidathing/gifts).

> So, it was around number 27 that I started running dry on ideas. Thankfully, Stars always has loads, and she was kind enough to share ❤︎  
  
**Prompt**— _“Please stay with me.”_

The avalanche happened suddenly and without warning, as avalanches generally do. It could have been worse– Tony was lucky he had been in the kitchen of the cabin, rather than out in the living room where the large, floor to ceiling windows had been shattered by the destructive force of the snow charging down the mountain.

It was supposed to have been a _relaxing_ weekend.

The Avengers – or rather, _Tony_ – had rented out a cabin in the Canadian Rockies for a few days, something to help them all let off a little steam, to get away from the big city, to maybe actually have a little fun for once.

Unfortunately, the others had taken the last part of that a little too seriously, and had all decided to go skiing on the very first morning. Tony hadn’t been particularly keen on it– after all, between the group of gods and super soldiers and assassins, Tony didn’t think his ego needed the hit. Bruce had gone because he wanted some fresh air, but Tony had just wanted to sit and relax. He knew he wasn’t the only one, either– he could see Loki eying the couch wistfully as Thor dragged him through the door, but Thor had issued a challenge the night before, and Tony had known that Loki would not be able to resist it.

That meant Tony was alone when he heard the avalanche, and he didn’t have time to do anything other than dive under the kitchen table and hope for the best. He heard the roar of rushing snow and the smashing of glass– the wooden walls groaned, but they _held_. And when it was over the kitchen was left mostly undamaged, save for the ice and snow that had come in through the small window above the sink.

He crawled out from his place of safety and immediately began taking stock of the situation. The kitchen door would not budge– it seemed that room on the other side was completely blocked full of snow. He could not see anything but white out of any of the windows, and when he went and poked and the pile of snow that had come through the window by the sink it shifted with enough speed to make Tony immediately begin backing away once again.

There was no signal on his phone, and the landline Tony had scoffed at upon arrival was out in the living room, probably buried under piles and piles of snow.

The verdict was clear. Tony was completely and utterly buried, and he couldn’t even get out of the kitchen and into the rest of the cabin.

_Great_.

—

Tony was fine for about the first hour. He knew that panicking wasn’t going to fix anything– he hated being trapped, but it wasn’t like he was trapped forever. After all, the Avengers would know _exactly_ where he was. There would be a rescue on the way, and since they had stocked the kitchen with two Asgardians and a super solider in mind he had enough food to last several days. The space heater in the corner was, somehow, still working, so he set it up away from the sink so as not to risk disturbing the snow there, and even on a low setting it would be enough to prevent him from becoming hypothermic.

There really was _no reason_ to panic, and Tony was in very little danger.

The Avengers were on their way.

Tony was going to be _fine_.

At first, he tried to find something to distract himself with, fiddling with the electronics he could find in the kitchen, taking them apart and then putting them back together in a new and improved state. Then he tried to imagine ways that he could get himself _out_ without needing to wait, calculating the way that the snow must have settled, what would need to be done to melt or shift it so that he could make his way to the surface.

But… everything he thought of was not likely to work, or would be too risky. He remembered hearing the walls creak, and while they seemed sturdy now, he was apprehensive about risking it. He wasn’t going to be able to get himself out—

But as he thought about _that_, the more he began to realise that the Avengers were going to be facing the exact same problem. They weren’t going to be able to get him out in a rush– even with gods and magic on their side, they still had to abide by the powerful force of nature.

They weren’t going to be able to get him out– at least, not quickly.

It could be _days_ stuck down under the snow, days and weeks of no one to talk to, nothing to do, only the sound of his own voice chattering away as he tried to fill the oppressive silence. There was nothing that he could do to make it better, there was nothing to _fix_– and it was the doing _nothing_ that got to him more than anything else.

The longer he was stuck, the more he began to feel like there was an itch under his skin, like his bones were trying to claw their way through his flesh. He couldn’t sit still, but whenever he stood up to move around he just found himself pacing– and somehow, that was even worse. It made him think of an animal in a zoo, bored and stuck and so very far from where they were meant to be.

Slowly, slowly, the room began to feel too small. The walls felt like they were closing in around him like a dark, angry _cave_, like the space he had to pace around was squeezing the life from him– like the air was being sucked from the room. His breathing began to quicken, in and out too fast, making him feel like he was beginning to choke.

What if, what if the snow had blocked off the chimney? What if there _was_ no air coming through there, what if he was going to die here, buried under snow and ice—

“Anthony, you must breathe.”

Oh, fuck off Loki, it wasn’t like Tony wasn’t _trying._ He was trying so hard in fact that his breaths came in gasps, his chest heaving.

“Anthony. Listen to my breathing, and slow down. There is air in here, you are fine.”

Wait.

Even through the haze of panic, Tony was still able to recognise that there was something wrong with what he was hearing. Loki had gone skiing with the others, he was supposed to be with the Avengers. The fact that he was here now could mean only one thing– the Avengers had broken through the snow, and Tony was _fine_.

If Loki was here, then that meant Tony was saved– and that thought gave him something to hold on to, something to steady him long enough to begin to focus not only on the sound of Loki’s voice, but rather on what he was actually _saying_.

In, and out. Slow, even breaths that were easy to follow, that turned his gulps and gasps into something more steady.

“There you go,” Loki said, and Tony finally pulled his head from where it had somehow come to rest on his knees, staring at the god in front of him with relief.

“Loki,” Tony sighed. “You’re here.”

“Well,” Loki grimaced slightly. “Not… entirely.”

Tony frowned, and then glanced away from Loki to see that the kitchen door was still firmly closed, the window over the sink was still overflowed with snow, and the other windows were still showing nothing but a depressing expanse of white.

He had been wrong. He wasn’t saved at all.

“How?” Tony choked.

“Astral projection,” Loki explained. “My body remains with the other Avengers, with Thor watching over me. Only my consciousness is here.”

Unable to help himself, Tony reached out across the space between them. Loki was sitting cross-legged on the floor opposite Tony, so it wasn’t hard. Loki remained still, watching sadly as Tony’s fingers passed straight through Loki’s shoulder as if there were nothing there at all. It was a strange feeling, because Loki _looked_ solid– and yet when Tony touched him, there was no distortion in light, and not even a tingle in his fingers to indicate the presence of any kind of energy.

There was just…nothing, as if Loki were not there at all.

“Okay,” Tony said, his hand dropping to his side. “Only the fact that I vaguely remember you telling me about this before is preventing me from thinking that I am hallucinating right now.”

“Should I be flattered that I am the one you would hallucinate about?” Loki asked. “That when you imagined someone coming to rescue you, of course it would be I that comes to mind most immediately—”

“Yeah, okay, this is definitely the real you,” Tony replied, feeling the corners of his mouth already starting to turn up into the beginnings of a smile. “There’s no way I could imagine that level of arrogance.” It was always like that with Loki– he always seemed to be able to make Tony feel better, to be able to make him laugh even when he was feeling at his worst.

Tony wasn’t sure when it had started, this affection and near longing for their resident trickster god. It was something that had crept up on him slowly, something that he hadn’t even noticed happening. He had fallen slowly and yet only realised how deep it went in a sudden lurch– and he knew, in that moment, that there was no one he would have wanted to find him more than Loki.

But Loki, it seemed, had other things on his mind.

“I shall inform the others that you are fine,” Loki said. “They are on their way. Captain Rogers has already contacted a professional rescue team to help dig you out, as none of us have any expertise in this area.”

Huh. Tony had expected them all to just be working on it themselves, but Tony figured that made sense.

Except—

“You can’t use your magic?” Tony asked in a voice that sounded far too small.

Loki smiled apologetically. “I appreciate your faith in my power, Anthony, but I am afraid that it is too risky. The snow is unstable, and there is too much danger involved. I will not risk bringing you harm with a single misstep. I agree with the captain– it will be best to let those who are well versed in such things deal with this matter.”

“You can’t, I don’t know, stabilise the snow or something?” Tony asked, frowning slightly. He didn’t know as much about magic as he wished he did, and he loved talking to Loki about it. Sometimes, if Tony asked in the right moment, Loki would become so excited that he seemed to almost start to glow, and Tony had always loved how animate Loki could get when he was talking about his favourite subject.

But rather than his usual response, Loki just suddenly tensed.

“I regret that while I do have a somewhat natural affinity for working with ice magic, I lack practice,” Loki said. It was clear that he was beating himself up over something, though Tony couldn’t imagine what.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said. “They’re going to get me out.”

“Yes,” Loki said. “They will. You are going to be fine, Anthony.” And Loki said that last sentence with such certainty that Tony almost found himself believing it—

At least until Loki turned his head to the ceiling. “I do need to go,” he said. “I must tell them where you are, that you are not injured so that they know there is no need to rush. It is better that they are careful so that they do not make any mistakes.”

Tony blinked, taking that in– because yeah, the conversation might have gone in a slightly different direction, but Tony was not at all oblivious to the fact that _Loki_, the one who always loved to be independent and get things done in his own way, was admitting that a few mere _mortals_ could do a job better than him. Tony felt a little flattered that it was his safety that had led to Loki’s sudden humility—

But that was not what he focused on in that moment, because Loki had just said that he was _leaving._

“No!” Tony exclaimed, reaching out and remembering at the last moment that they would not be able to touch. “Please stay with me.”

Loki’s lips parted in surprise, and he stared at Tony with something bordering on awe.

“You want me to stay here?” Loki asked. “_Why?”_

A dangerous answer that lay somewhere in the direction of _I always want you with me_ was right on the tip of Tony’s tongue, but he managed to stop himself from giving it voice.

“I’m going to die of boredom if I stay in here alone,” Tony said instead. “Please, Loki, don’t go.”

For a moment, Loki looked as if he were truly thinking about it. His expression was torn, and there was something heavy in his gaze that made Tony want to draw in as close to Loki as he could, to wrap his arms around Loki’s shoulders and pull him into a hug. But then, Loki shook his head, his expression solidifying into something firm.

“I need to inform them of the situation,” Loki said. “But I will return. I promise.”

When Loki faded, Tony felt like a small piece of himself went with him. The moment Loki was gone the room just seemed so much emptier, and so much colder than it had before– so much less like the warm holiday cabin and so much more like an all too familiar cave, a place that was just waiting to swallow him whole.

But Loki had provided Tony with enough hope that the walls stayed where they were, they didn’t close in like they had before. The Avengers were on their way, they weren’t going to leave him to suffer alone. Sure, there may be a few more hours, or even a day or so depending on the level of risk– but he would survive. He would get _out_, that was a certainty, now.

Yet still, even though he knew that he was going to be all right, there was a touch of _something _that pained him, that made him wonder whether Loki was actually going to come back. After all, why would he? Loki was out there, out in the open under the sky and with other people to talk to. Why would he voluntarily come back down under the snow?

Pushing the dark thought away, Tony tried again to find something to do, something to distract himself with. He took apart the microwave and used it and pieces of the already disassembled toaster to try and build another space heater. But, he had hardly detatched the outside casing before there was a small flicker of movement in the corner of his eye, and when Tony turned he found that he wasn’t alone.

“Loki!” he exclaimed, letting the parts of the microwave fall from his hands as he stood so fast that he almost gave himself vertigo. “You came back!”

“I said that I would, did I not?” Loki said, looking a little amused. Then his gaze caught the pile of broken electronics and kitchen utensils at Tony’s feet, and his eyes narrowed. “You aren’t trying to blow yourself up, are you?”

“Ohh, that is a good idea,” Tony sighed. “An escape _and_ a source of heat, all in one go.”

Loki grinned, and Tony easily found himself matching it. Once again, Loki had only been there for a few moments and already Tony’s expression was stretched wide with enjoyment. It always felt like there was nothing that he couldn’t survive, so long as Loki was by his side.

Because, yeah, having Loki there made everything a thousand times better. Talking to him was just so easy– they were similar enough that there was no awkwardness or misunderstandings, and there was nothing stopping them from just _talking_ for as long as they wanted. There were no interruptions from other Avengers, no call outs to go and join a mission. There was no paperwork for Tony to sign, and no Thor demanding Loki’s attention. It was just _them_, and despite how the situation had come about, Tony found himself enjoying it a lot more than he probably should.

As time passed, Tony even half began to forget that he was trapped under yards of snow. He was just there with Loki, with tools in his hands as he created something and a smile on his face as Loki told him a joke. And for a few, sweet hours, it was almost as if there was nothing wrong at all.

Because… how could there be anything wrong, when Tony was with Loki?

Unfortunately, though, the reality of the situation would come crashing down on them all too soon– but, thankfully, not as literally as it could have done.

They sat beside each other on the hard kitchen chairs, not quite touching as Tony explained how he was putting together the small robot he was making from the well-used parts of the kitchen appliances. The bot didn’t have an AI, not like DUM-E or U back home, but it was able to move itself, and although he couldn’t build sensors from what he had, he did manage to repurpose the buttons from the microwave so that if it ran into anything it would know to change direction.

And as Tony placed the little robot on the ground and it moved forward for the first time – taking its first step, as it were – he turned to Loki with a bright smile to find the god watching him with such fondness that it ached, his smile soft and his eyes so bright.

Somehow, sitting there in the semi-dark cabin, Loki looked more beautiful than Tony had ever seen him before. And as their eyes met, Tony was overtaken with a need that was somehow brand new and yet terribly familiar all at once.

And then, Tony couldn’t help it. He leaned in slightly, holding Loki’s gaze as he tilted his head, his heart beating oh so fast. He paused with their lips only a hairsbreadth apart, not wanting to push too hard– then Loki leaned in the rest of the way, Tony’s eyes slipped closed, and then—

Nothing.

Tony realised what had happened immediately, and he kept his eyes closed for a moment while his fingers curled tightly around the utensils in his hands. That gave Loki time to lean away, which Tony was glad for– he didn’t want to have to see Loki moving _through_ him.

When Tony finally did open his eyes, it was to see Loki staring down at his hands, his expression pained. Thankfully, the tension was broken by the little robot running into Tony's feet, and their conversation restarted with a quip and a sigh of relief.

Still though, neither of them quite met each other’s gaze, a sudden nervousness between them that had never been there before– like the air was ringing electric, like there was a tension that _couldn’t_ be broken until they were both properly in the same room.

They had never done anything like that before, but it was clear that it was something they both wanted. There had been looks, and there was an obvious mutual attraction– but as far as acting on it went, that was the very first time, and it had been cut brutally short.

It left them flailing just a little, but Tony’s mind was whirring. Because it seemed like Loki was just as disappointed as he was. And yeah, okay, so they couldn’t touch, but… maybe, they could just _talk_ about it—

Loki’s head snapped up suddenly. “Thor is rousing me,” he said—

And then, he was gone.

Tony’s eyes widened, and he immediately pushed to his feet. Without the distraction of Loki being in the same room as him, Tony suddenly became aware of _scratching_ on the other side of the kitchen door.

He didn’t get too close, but he stood waiting nearby, his heart beating, _waiting_—

“Mr Stark?” someone called through the door– an unfamiliar voice, but welcome nonetheless.

“Yes, I’m here!” Tony called back.

They exchanged a few words back and forth, the rescue worker asking about the snow in the room, about the amount of space he had, about whether or not he was injured. They didn’t seem surprised, but more like they were confirming what they already knew, and Tony remembered that Loki had already given them most of the information. They must just have been following their usual procedure, likely talking to try and keep him calm.

It seemed that they had gone in through the other side of the cabin, and then had made their way through the snow in the living room to get to the kitchen door. That meant that if they did disturb any snow, it would be around the rest of the cabin, rather than near Tony’s safe pocket.

And when the door was finally pulled open, Tony breathed a sigh of relief that he felt with his entire body.

“Good afternoon, Mr Stark,” the man said, pulling down the scarf around his mouth so that Tony could see his face. “Pleased to meet you.”

“Not as pleased as I am to meet you, I promise,” Tony said, letting out a relieved laugh.

The man grinned, but before he could say anything else they both heard a bit of a scuffle back along the path that the rescuer had made.

“Sir,” someone was saying, “You cannot—”

“Do _not_ presume to tell me what I can and cannot do—”

“It might be unstable—”

“By the Norns, just let him through!”

The last voice unmistakably belonged to Thor, and the picture of what was happening outside painted a softer smile across Tony’s lips to replace the relieved grin. There was a little more of a scuffle and then– there was Loki, pushing past the rescue worker and shoving his way through the door, his eyes wide.

“Anthony?” he asked.

Tony was running before he even registered that he had moved, throwing his arms around Loki’s shoulders and crashing their lips together in a searing kiss. It felt long overdue, never mind that their first attempt had been less than an hour before, and Tony threw everything into it that he could. His hands were in Loki’s hair, raking down Loki’s back, pulling him close and breathing him in and just relishing in finally getting everything that he wanted. Every nerve was on fire, the electricity dancing between them and urging them on, forging something bright and fiery that flared white hot and yet, Tony knew, would burn for a very long time.

They only parted when Tony’s breaths became short, though they stayed entangled together, their bodies pressed tight and close with the reassurance that no one was going to disappear or slip through the other.

“Hey,” Tony whispered, his smile bright, his lips still so close to Loki’s that they brushed together with every syllable. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“I couldn’t let the mortals do _all_ the work,” Loki replied with a smirk.

Tony was about to say that actually, the mortals _had_, since they had made it all the way through to the door _before_ Loki came running in– but then Loki’s lips were on his once more, and his brain had other things to be thinking about. That kiss stayed chaste, but it was still enough to curl Tony’s toes.

“It’s nice to be able to do that properly,” Tony whispered.

“Yes,” Loki agreed, leaning forward so that their foreheads pressed together. “It is.”

The rescue worker seemed reluctant to pull them apart, but Tony couldn’t be mad at the guy– it was his job, after all, and he _had_ helped Tony escape the cabin. But he still refused to let go of Loki’s hand as they pulled away from each other, tugging him gently toward the door.

“Wait,” Loki said, moving in the other direction. “We can’t leave him behind.”

Tony was a little confused– but then Loki bent down and scooped up the little microwave-toaster hybrid on wheels, and Tony felt a surge of affection so overwhelming that he pulled Loki into another kiss.

He could hear the rescue worker’s exasperated sigh from the other side of the room, but he still lingered just a little longer against Loki’s lips before turning to finally head out of the cabin.

The other Avengers all clapped him on the back and told him how relieved they were, and even though they shot confused glances at Tony and Loki’s clasped hands, none of them made a comment. And when Tony just stood in the open and turned his face up to the sky, they quietened down, for which he was grateful.

Finally being back out in the open was more reliving than Tony could say. He had never liked being confined, and the sun on his face and the breeze on his skin was refreshing and settling, calming his nerves.

Yet none of it compared to the rush of delight Tony felt as Loki squeezed his hand, and when Tony turned to meet his gaze and saw Loki’s soft, hopeful smile, Tony almost found himself glad that he had ended up trapped inside that cabin.


End file.
